2015 Giovanni Rosso, Barolo, Vignarionda Ester Canale

If there is a village which has benefited from the warm vintage in 2015, it is Serralunga. Within it, Vigna Rionda is a cult cru for those seeking elegant Barolo. Extremely pale and garnet coloured, this is reductive in style, with an austere nose of restrained strawberry and rhubarb fruit, then liquorice and tar. It fills the palate with a thick and full body and almost angular yet ripe tannins, showing outstanding integration between fruit and acidity. It’s not an easy wine to approach now, yet it has great depth and potential. Drinking Window: 2021 - 2050
Tasted by: Aldo Fiordelli (at Best Barolo & Barbaresco MGAs tasting, 15 Dec 2020)
Part of Barolo & Barbaresco: 10 high-flying vineyard sites

Earthy aromas of wild red berry, underbrush, new leather and tar come together on the nose of this delicious, enveloping red. The elegant, full-bodied palate delivers ripe brandied cherry, juicy raspberry, truffle, licorice and baking spice set against a backbone of firm, fine-grained tannins. It's already impressive, but give it time to develop even more complexity. Drink 2025–2035. Kerin O'Keefe

The 2015 Barolo Vigna Rionda is a wine of real power and intensity. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2015 needs time for the sensuality and pedigree of Rionda to emerge. Today, the 2015 is a bit bombastic, although it offers tons of allure. Hints of tobacco, leather, dark cherry, licorice, menthol, spice and dried flowers build as the 2015 shows off everything its got. I can't wait to taste the 2015 with a bit more bottle age.

The Ester Canale Rosso 2015 Barolo Vignarionda is softened by aged aromas of dried fruit, licorice, tar, camphor ash and toasted aniseed. The warm 2015 vintage contributes to those sensation of softness and silkiness that ride forward to the finish. You can taste some of the extra concentration or fruit weight that is associated with this sunny vintage. The 2015 rivals the 2016 (that I tasted at the same time), but there is more density here. I'm not sure why the wine holds such an ambitious price tag, but it must have to do with availability. ML